Automatic gate for railway-crossings.



No. 880,721. PATENTED MAR. s, 190s.

H. W. 00mm.

I AUTOMATIC GATE FOR RAILWAY oaossmes.

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No. 880,721. I PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908.

H. W. OONDE. -AUTOMATIO GATE FOR RAILWAY GROSSINGS APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13 1907.

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No. 880,721. PATENTED MAR. s, 1908. H. w. comm. AUTOMATIC GATE PORRAILWAY onossmes. I

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13, 1907.

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No. 880,721. PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908.

H. W. 00mm. I AUTOMATIGJGATE FOR RAILWAY onossmes;

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13, 1907.

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No. 880.721. PATBNTED MAR. a, 1908.

H. w. 00mm. v AUTOMATIC GATE FOR RAILWAY GROSSINGS.

APPLIGATI N FILED F3113, 1907.

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HARRY W. OONDE, OF OTTAWA, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC GATE FOR RAILWAY-GROSSINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 3, 1908;

Application filed February 13. 1907 Serial No. 357304.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY I/V. CONDE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ottawa, in the county of' Lasalle and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Gates for Railway-Crossings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in automatic gates and more particularly to that class adapted to be used in connection with rail-way tracks at street crossings and my object is to provide a gate of this class whereby an approaching train will automatically operate the same to close the street.

A further object is to provide means for automatically opening the gates after the train has passed the street crossing.

A still further object is to provide means for temporarily locking the gates in their closed position.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter made clearly apparent in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved form of gate as applied to use in connection with a double railway track and showing the cables employed for lowering the gates; Fig. 2 is an elevation of one of the gates in its lowered position; Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the gates in its elevated position; Fig. 4 is an elevation at right angles to Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of the lower end of one of the gates as seen from the opposite side from that shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view as seen on line 66 Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale as seen on line 77 Fig. 4; Fig. 8 is a sectional view as seen on line 88 Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is a view, partly in section, of one of the gate closers; Fig. 10 is a similar view of the closer at the opposite side of the gate; Fig. 11 is a sectional view as seen on line 1111 Fig. 9; and, Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner of securing the unlocking cables to the gate closing mechanism.

Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference, 1 indicates the gate proper which is preferably formed of a pair of bars which converge at their outer ends and are secured together in any preferred manner, said gates being preferably provided with suitable yond the shaft 4 and have secured thereto guides 7 between which are slidably mounted weights 8, the guides 7 and weights 8 having recesses 9 and 10 respectively to receive bearing balls 11 so that the weight will freely move in the guides. The objects of the Weight is to hold the gate in its elevated osition when the weight is at the lower end of the guides and in order to lower the gate I have provided means for raising the weight in the guides so that the weight of the gate above the shaft 4 will overcome the weight of the lower end of-the gate and allow said gate to descend. To this end I have provided a cable 12, one end of which is directed over a sheave 13 fixed to the extended end. of the shaft 4 and is secured to the weight 8, the opposite end of the cable being directed downwardly and into a suitable conduit 13, said conduit extending along the railway tracks to a point adjacent a suitable operating mechanism. The operating mechanism consists of a housing 14 which is disposed below the base of one of the track-rails 15 and contains a drum 16, said drum being pivotally secured within the housing and provided at its upper periphery with an angular head 17 which is extended through aslot 18 in the track-rail 15, the apex 19 of the head extending a distance above the up er surface of the track-rail so that the tree the car-wheels will engage the apex and. tilt the head, thereby partially rotating the drum. In order to normally retain the head in its horizontal position, the thickness of. the lower portion of the drum is increased as shown at 20 so that when the drum has been released after operating the gates, the weighted portion of the drum will cause the head. 17 to assume its normal position. is directed around suitable pulleys 21 in the housing 14 and is secured to the drum 1 6 in any preferred manner, the thickened portion 20 of the drum having a concave face 22 to form a guide for the cable and retain the.

The cable 12 the head 17 is engaged by the tread of the car wheels, the drum will be rotated and the cable 12 wound thereon which will result in raising the weight 8 and causing the gate 1 to descend.

It will be understood that there is to be a pair of gates at each side of the trackway which in operation will descend toward each other, thereby completely spanning the traffic portion of the street and it will also be understood that the operating mechanism for the gates is to be placed some distance from the gates so that said gates will be lowered before the train reaches the street crossing and in order to hold the gates in their closed position after the drum has been rotated, I have provided a latch 23 which is pivotally mounted within the housing 14 and in juxtaosition to the path of one end of the angu ar head 17 so that as said head descends, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 9, the latch 23 will engage a lug 24 on the head 17 and hold said head in its lowered position, the latch 23 being yieldingly held in the path of the lug 24 by means of a spring 25 while the latch is limited in its forward movement by means of a pin 26. It will therefore be seen that when the head 17 is lowered to the position shown by dotted lines inFig. 9, the gates will have been closed and the latch 23 brought into engagement with the lug 24 so that the gates will be held in their closed 0- sition until the latch is released from the lug when the weighted portion of the drum 16 will cause the same to return to its normal position and release the weights 8 whereupon said weights will descend and elevate the gates.

It will be understood that a housing 14 and parts contained therein are to be placed at each side of the gates and a train traveling in one direction will cause the first operating mechanism encountered to close the gates, while the opposite operating mechanism is employed for releasing the latch from the lug 24 of the first encountered head 17 so that the gates may open, and when the train is traveling in the opposite direction the last mentioned mechanism will be employed for closing the ates while the other mechanism will be emp oyed for releasing the latch so that said gates may be automatically closed or opened from either direction.

In Fig. 1, I have shown the gates and operating mechanism employed in connection with a double track but the operation thereof is the same as when used in connection with a single track and the description thereof will be made accordingly.

In operation, the cables 12 and 12 are disposed around sheaves 27 between the gates 1 and housings 14 and the cables 12 and 12 are connected together by means of a cable 28, said cable 28 havin' bifurcated ends 28*, which extend aroun the opposite sides of the sheaves 27 from that occupied by the cables 12 and 12, the bifurcated ends of thecable 28 being secured to the lateral extending'portions of the cables 12 and 12, while the cable 28 is directly connected to the cables 12 and 12 by means of auxiliary sections 28 so that when the drum 1.6 is rotated in one direction, the cables 12 and 12 will be simultaneously operated and the gates at each side of the roadway lowered, and it will be seen that the drum 16 will have the same action upon the cables when the drum 16 is rotated by a train approaching from the op osite direction. By this construction it wi I be seen that, when a train is moving toward the drum 16 from the right, said drum will be employed to close the gates and the drum 16 employed to release the latch 23 while, if the train is ap roaching the drum 16 from the opposite cirection or the left, said drum 16 will be employed to close the gates and the drum 16 to release the latch 23, said latches being operatively connected together by means of a cable 29 as best shown in Fig. 12 of the drawings, and this cable is in turn connected at each end to the drums 16 and 16 by means of auxiliary cables 30 and 30 respectively so that when the train encounters the drum not employed in closing the gates, said drum will be inversely rotated and the latch engaging the closing drum released from the lug thereon. When one of the drums is rotated to close the gates, the opposite drum is likewise rotated in the same direction and in order to prevent the latter drum from being rotated a distance sufficient to disengage the latch from the lug upon the first mentioned drum, I provide a slack in the cables 12 and 12 between the drums and the ulleys 27 as shown at 12 and 12 respective y so that the latter drum will not be rotated to its fullest capacity and by likewise providing a slack in the auxiliary cables 30 and 30 as shown at 30 and 30, respectively it will be seen that the gates can be closed before the auxiliary cables are drawn sufiiciently taut to operate the latches. As soon, however, as thetrain has reached the latter drum, the head thereon will be de ressed its full capacity which will result in isengaging the latch from the first mentioned drum and allowing said drum to return to its normal position and the gates to open. The rotation of the drums is limited by means of stops 31 which are secured in the housings 14 in. any preferred manner and extend into elongated channels 32 in one auxiliary shafts 34, said auxiliary shafts bewalking on the tracks, I

ing provided at each end with pinions 35 which mesh with similar pinions 36 mounted on idler shafts '37, the pinions 36 being fixed to sprocket wheels 38 and in order to cause the auxiliary gates 33 to descend with the gates 1, I dispose a sprocket chain 39 around the s rocket wheels 38 and around similar whee s 40 fixed to the shaft 4 and as the shaft 4 is caused to rotate when the gates 1 descend, the auxiliary gates 33 will be likewise lowered. By this construction it will be seen that I have provided positive means for operating the gates to close the street by the passing of the train over suitable operating mechanism. It will also be seen that I have provided means for holding the gates in their closed position until the train has passed the street crossing.

It will further be seen that I have provided means for releasing the operating mechanism so that the gates can ascend and assume their normal elevated position.

l/Vhat I claim is 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with railway track-rails having vertical slots therethrough; of gates in juxtaposition to said track-rails, drums at a distance from said gates, heads on said drums, said heads extending through said slots and normally above the track-rails, and means interposed between the drums and gates and partially around said drums whereby, when said drums are rotated, the gates will be closed.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with track rails of gates pivotally mounted adjacent said track rails, weights carried by the lower ends of said gates, guides extending longitudinally on the gates, from their lower ends to their pivotal points, in which said weights are adapted to travel, cables secured to said weights, rotating means adapted to engage said cables and raise said weights automatically, whereby the gates will descend, and additional means to hold said gates in their lowered position.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with track-rails of gates pivotally mounted adjacent saidrails, weights movably mounted on the lower ends of said gates, drums at each side of said gates and below the track-rails, housings for said drums, a head on each of said drums, said heads extending through slots in said rails and above said rails, means connecting said drums to said weights whereby, when the drums are rotated in one direction, the weights will be elevated, means to engage said heads and prevent rotation thereof, and additional means to release said heads when desired.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with tilting gates and weights slidably mounted on the lower ends of said gates, of drums, heads on the upper periphery of said drums, means to normally hold said heads in a horizontal position, and cables extending from said drums to the weights whereby, when said drums are rotated in a given direction, the weights will be elevated and the gates caused to descend.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a plurality of tilting gates and weights slidably mounted at the lower ends of said gates adapted to normally hold said gates in their elevated position of means to elevate the weights simultaneously where by said gates may descend, comprising rotatably mounted drums, heads on said drums, means to normally hold said heads above the drum, cables extending from said drums to the weights whereby, when said drums are rotated in one direction, the weights will be elevated, latches adapted to engage said heads and hold the drums in their depressed position, and means to disengage said latches from the heads whereby the drums will return to their normal position and the weights descend to elevate the gates.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRY W. CONDE.

Witnesses:

SHERMAN LELAND, OOTAVIUS R. WHITE. 

